


Confession

by marvelaf



Series: Home #1 [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Amputee Bucky Barnes, Fire, Foster Care, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:20:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23755258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelaf/pseuds/marvelaf
Summary: Bucky talks to Nat. Finally.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Home #1 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567540
Comments: 13
Kudos: 56





	Confession

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's short and I'm sorry. I wanted to keep going, but I decided the next part would be better as it's own chapter. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this!

Bucky walks home from the diner, despite Steve and Tony’s efforts to get him in the car. Maybe they were right, and maybe they weren’t, but standing in front of Mr. Coulson's big wooden door, Bucky wishes he had somewhere else to rest his head for the night. Huffing a short breath, he turns his back to the door and marches down the porch steps.

Hopping onto the roof of the shed is easy enough, so is opening the window, but as much as Bucky kicks his legs with half of his body hanging out the window, he can’t pull himself through. The metal button of his jeans is stuck somewhere, and Bucky’s only hand is keeping him from falling out the window.  _ Shit.  _

Wiggling around like a useless fucking worm, Bucky must have caused enough of a ruckus for someone to hear. The door swings open revealing Nat’s bright red hair and a smirk Bucky has seen too much of in his few days here. 

“Need a hand?” she chuckles. 

“Fuck you. Just pull me in,” Bucky grumbles. She grabs his hand and yanks harder than Bucky was expecting and soon enough his legs drop to solid ground. “Thanks.” 

“Yeah, anytime,” she pushes a bit of hair behind her ear as Bucky rises to his full height. “You weren’t breaking curfew or anything, you know. And last I checked the front door still works,” Nat says, a small crease forming between her brows. 

“Mr. Coulson ask about Clint’s hands?” Bucky asks, dusting his jeans off. His eyes avoid the younger girl’s questioning gaze as he sits on the edge of the bed. 

“Yeah and we told him what happened.”

“The truth?” Bucky asks incredulously. He tugs on his shoelaces. 

“Well, yeah. Clint’s a shit liar,” she shrugs. 

“You’re kidding, right?” Bucky pulls his shoe off and tosses it next to the desk. 

“Why would I joke about this, James? Phil'll probably want to talk to you, you know,” Nat says. A scoff gets caught in Bucky’s throat as it tightens. 

“Mr. Coulson can want whatever. I’m going to bed,” Bucky snorts, miserably hiding the way his hand shook. 

“He’ll just do it tomorrow morning.”

“So I might as well get a good night’s sleep in before I hit the road,” he shrugs lightly. Nat’s brows shoot up.

“Hit the road? You plan a road trip without me?” Nat laughs. Bucky only rolls his eyes, rubbing his palm on the rough denim covering his thigh. 

“He’ll kick me out, Nat. I started a fight-” 

“Yeah, about that, why?” 

“Huh?” 

“The fight? Why’d you get it started?” 

“I’ve had enough of Clint hating me. Decided to finally stand up for myself. Besides, he’s the one who hit me, in case you forgot.”  _ Lord knows I haven’t.  _

“So you want to be kicked out? Figure if you cause enough trouble, Phil’ll give up? Hate to be the one to break it to you, but he won’t.” 

“What are you even talking about?” Bucky groans. His eyes burn slightly. 

“He won’t give up on you. He didn’t with me or Clint and he won’t with you.” 

“Well, maybe he should,” he states. 

“Why?” Nat asks, her voice earnest and calm. A tear drops from Bucky’s eye before he can wipe it away. 

“I-God, I’m not worth it, I’ll bring more trouble the longer I’m here,” Bucky chokes. 

“I don’t know who told you that or made you believe that, but honestly James, fuck ‘em.”

“It’s not that easy. You of all people would know it’s not easy,” he whispers. Nat takes a seat next to him on the edge of the bed. 

“So explain it to me then,” she whispers back. The dam breaks and Bucky hunches over, tears rushing down his face like if they don’t leave now they’ll never get the chance to again. 

“I can't,” he moans softly.  _ Pathetic.  _ Nat moves her hand up and down on Bucky’s back as he silently sobs. It feels- Bucky doesn’t tell her to move it. 

“I know it feels easier to lock it all up and never think about it again. I’m telling you from the other side, James, it’s so much better over here,” she mutters. Bucky shakes his head slightly and brings his hand up to wipe at his eyes. A long shuddering breath attacks his lungs, burning his throat and mouth in the exhale. 

“There was a fire,” he admits. “I don’t know how it started, but I was asleep and I had a chair up against the door like I did every night because my black eye stung and I didn’t want a matching one. There was a crash outside and all I could smell was smoke, but the house always smelt like that and I wasn’t going to leave my room to check on anything,” Bucky swallows thickly and flicks his glance to Nat’s eyes for a moment before fixating on the carpet. 

“Then the roof fell in, pinned me to the floor by the arm. Everything around me was on fire, and it was so loud and I was screaming for help,” Bucky sniffs loudly. 

“No one was coming, Nat. I screamed and cried for- God, I don’t know. It felt like years, and all I could smell was fucking weed because Dad stashed a shitton under my bed, and now it was all burning up right next to me,” Nat stiffens a bit next to Bucky.

“I’m so sor-” Nat starts.

“A-and I woke up later in a hospital bed with no fucking arm, and they’re telling me my dad’s in jail and my mom’s dead, and that I shouldn’t worry because I’ll be taken care of,” Bucky cries. “It was a lie, it was all a shitty lie.”

_ What the fuck did I just do? Holy shit.  _

Nat sits in silence, her hand still against Bucky’s back, and he could hear the cogs spinning in her head. 

“When does he get out?” 

“He got ten years when I was eight, so.” Nat nods shortly. 

“I promise, James, you will be taken care of here,” she whispers. 

“I should be able to take care of myself.” 

“And I’m telling you, you don’t have to.” 

Bucky searches her eyes for any hint of doubt but finds none. His throat tightens as he nods once, letting her words sink in. 

“Okay,” Bucky whispers. Nat stands up, crossing the room and placing her hand on the knob. 

“I’ll get Clint to stop, okay? I’m warning you though, it’s a two-way street,” she says over her shoulder. Bucky nods minutely and Nat closes the door behind her. He waits until he hears the click of her door closing to grab the teddy bear from behind the bedframe, hugging the stupid thing tight as he curls up into a tight ball. 

His jeans still adorn his legs as he falls asleep, and he hadn’t even bothered to get under the blanket.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Remember writers live off comments and kudos, so if you liked it, feel free to leave one! 
> 
> Come yell at me on Tumblr: [marvel-af](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/marvel-af)


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